New York Rangers: The Tale Of Two Ryan Callahans

After Ryan Callahan‘s heroics for the New York Rangers against the Colorado Avalanche where he led the Rangers with two goals and a dominating performance, cementing a 5-1 win.

With the conclusion of that game, many Rangers’ fans decided that maybe Callahan’s contract extension demands of close to $7 million over seven seasons weren’t that unreasonable, and really who can blame them. He played from start to finish like a captain should, and contributed seriously on the score sheet.

A very winnable game against the worst team in the Western Conference and the Rangers lost 2-1. During the course of that game, when the score was tied at one, Callahan had numerous opportunities to score a goal and give the Rangers a lead, but unfortunately he failed to capitalize and beat the Oilers’ goaltender, Ben Scrivens, on a breakaway in the second period. Then in the third period at least twice, Callahan had a perfect scoring chance and did not even register a shot on net, as both shots went wide. The Oilers would score the second goal late in the third period to give them an impressive road win and a huge letdown loss for Callahan and the Rangers.

In my opinion, this proves why Callahan is not worth over $5 million per season over four years, never mind close to $7 million over seven years. While Callahan is a good leader and captain, he is very hit or miss when it comes to production and if you are making that kind of money, then you better average around a point per game.

But the reality of the situation is that only one time in Callahan’s entire eight year career, has he ever exceeded 50 points in a season. And, as you know there are 82 games in a season and a point per game player is not even close to what Callahan is, and frankly he will never be that type of a player.

He scores one day, then can’t hit the back of the net to save his life; this is the tale of two Ryan Callahans.